1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to mounting brackets and more specifically to mounting brackets that are mountable onto primary support structures such as tension poles, scaffolding, and the like as used in the visual display arts, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
At many conventions, department stores, and the like, display booths are frequently employed. Such displays generally include some form of tension pole or the like as a primary support structure. Generally, it is disadvantageous to hang or suspend items directly from tension poles for several reasons. First, the tension pole is generally unattractive; it is better to find a way to de-emphasize the tension pole visually. Second, because the tension pole is not necessarily clean, any items that a person wishes to display may come in contact with dirt or grease on the tension pole and also become dirty. Third, such tension pole generally does not lend itself to supporting items to be displayed directly.
A common way to circumvent these problems is to provide shelves or cross-beams on which the items to be displayed may be placed. In the case of shelves, items are placed on the shelves. In the case of cross-beams, garments, for example, may be disposed on hangers which are suspended from the cross-beams.
Typically, shelves and cross-beams are attached to tension poles by means of a mounting clamp. A conventional mounting clamp employed in the visual display arts is made by the ALU Corporation of New York. The ALU clamp includes a threaded handle which, when rotated repeatedly, opens or closes a pair of grips, depending on the direction of rotation. The grips are designed to clamp around the outer circumference of the tension pole onto which it is desired to attach a cross-beam or a shelf. A recess is provided in the ALU clamp into which a cross-bar or pole may be inserted. Another threaded handle is provided with a bolt; when the second handle is rotated, the bolt moves into the recess and pushes against any bar or pole inserted therein, as is conventional in the art.
The ALU clamp suffers from several drawbacks. First, it is difficult to attach to a primary support structure. The clamp must be fully opened, placed around the tension pole, and then the handle must be turned repeatedly in order to secure the clamp to the tension pole. The repeated turning of the handle to close the grips around the tension pole is a slow and cumbersome process. What is more, while the handle is being turned, the clamp must be held in the desired location, since it is not secured until the grips are snug around the tension pole; during the attaching process, the clamp is likely to slip or shift position. Should the tension pole be too wide for the grips of the clamp to wrap around, the clamp cannot be attached. Moreover, the recess for receiving a cross-bar is also fixed in cross-section and shape and can accommodate neither a pole or bar that is wider than the recess nor a shelf.